Mozilla will begin rolling out the Firefox 148 update this month with several features and changes. It announced that the upcoming web browser update will make it easier to manage generative AI features.
In other words, Mozilla is making it easier to disable its generative AI features and re-enable them if you want. It will do so by adding a new AI controls section within the desktop browser settings.
Mozilla has been adding generative AI features to Firefox for the last couple of years. It faced criticism from users when things went south. It said the new AI controls section will serve as a one-stop shop for all current and future generative AI features in Firefox. You"ll be able to review and manage individual generative AI features of Firefox.
The browser-maker acknowledges that while AI is the talk of the town, it may not be everyone"s cup of tea yet. "We believe choice is more important than ever as AI becomes a part of people’s browsing experiences. What matters to us is giving people control, no matter how they feel about AI," it said.
Firefox"s AI controls section will support the following features at launch:
- AI chatbots in the sidebar: It lets you pick a name from the platter of AI chatbots, such as Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and others.
- AI-enhanced tab grouping: Suggests related tabs and group names.
- Link previews: Shows key points of a web page before you open a link.
- Alt text in PDFs: Adds accessibility descriptions to images in PDF pages.
- Translations: Translates web pages into your preferred language.
Mozilla added that the AI controls section will include a "Block AI enhancements" toggle that lets you disable all generative AI features with a single click. You won"t see any pop-ups or reminders to use existing or future AI features in the browser. Note that you can unblock specific AI features while the universal toggle is enabled.
The new AI controls section will be released on February 28 as part of Firefox 148. You can get early access via Firefox Nightly, available for download from this page.